Fall protection systems are compulsory for construction workers on projects requiring them to work more than 6 feet off the ground. Employers who fail to provide such systems may be fined by regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). While numerous fall protection systems exist, they can be complicated, expensive, difficult to install, confusing to use, difficult to remove at the end of a job, damaging to the work surface, or unduly limiting to worker movement.
As a result, workers may fail to properly use their fall protection system, if such a system is even provided. This habit is particularly dangerous in the roofing industry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, falls from roofing projects cause over ten percent of all construction labor fatalities. Workers for small establishments, which are less likely to be able to provide comprehensive fall protection systems, experience a disproportionately high number of fatal falls. Even looking at the industry as a whole, however, workers in the roofing industry are three times more likely to experience fatal work-related injuries than construction workers in any other industry.
There is an unmet need in the art for a portable, easy-to-use system for fall restraint that does not unduly damage a work surface or limit worker movement.